If you happen to notice that your hot water heater is leaking water, you have a problem that needs to be addressed immediately. This may seem like a small problem, but it can quickly grow to a much larger issue if not properly taken care of. Leaking water can not only damage your home floors and walls, and other appliances, but it also causes mold growth that can be hazardous to your family’s health. In certain cases, a full water heater leak can flood your home or basement. As always, it is important to remember that although it may seem minimal now, the leak is not going to to just disappear and you should be thinking about fixing it sooner rather than later. Doing so can save you from more expensive damages to your home at a later date.
Internal Tank Leak
The most common reason that your hot water heater tank could be leaking is from damage to the tank itself. If your water tank is definitely leaking, it means that it has an internal problem that is allowing water to leak and starts pooling at the base of the heater tank.
Bottom of the Water Tank
Another common cause of a leaking water tank is when sediment starts to build up in the bottom of your tank for years and starts to corrode and rust away through the bottom of the water tank and begins to leak. If age is the culprit here, you will need to call in a professional plumber to replace your water heater entirely.
Hot and Cold Inlet and Outlet Connections
If you find that these inlets are the source of your leak, it could just be an easy fix. Just check the two pipes connections to see if they are loose and causing any water to leak. In this case, you may just need to tighten the pipe connection(s) with a wrench or you can replace a faulty pipeline rather cheaply.
Heater Drain Valve
A leaking water heater drain valve may be easy or not so easy to fix. The age and quality of your tank are both factors. Near the bottom of your hot water tank you will find the drain valve. Your hot water tank comes installed with a plastic valve. These plastic valves are not of good quality and sometimes they can start leaking when they are being used. Try opening the valve minimally and then shut it back off and tighten it good. This will release any built up sediment that may have gotten caught in the valve.
A licensed plumber can easily replace the leaking valve if this is the cause of the water tanks problem. Our professional plumbing company in Brookfield, Illinois can also replace your water heater or install a modern day tankless water heater.